The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 165: The Sword Swallowing Event of the Old Man in the West City [Part 2]

When Sun Chengtao was just outside the door, he was the noisiest and most detached. But when he entered the door and faced the old man who died with open eyes, he immediately fell silent.

Sun Chengye was better, but his throat was wriggling. It was obviously a painful experience to swallow the iron sword from his brain.

Yu Qian was silent for a while, and suddenly bowed to the body to the end and said, "Sorry for offending, sir."

The brothers of the Sun family woke up just in their dream-like state and followed him to salute.

"Finding out the truth is the greatest consolation for the dead."

Sun Shaozong took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. He said, "It's a quarter of an hour now. I'll give you another quarter of an hour. You can check everything in the room at will, or ask the captains who were just responsible for checking the evidence. Okay, let's start."

Crackle~

He snapped the cover of his watch and walked out.

The three people in the room looked at each other. After a moment, they started to act separately.

In the beginning, they did not go to check on the body.

It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Yu Qian was the first one to approach.

"It's almost time."

A quarter of an hour later, Sun Shaozong came in from the door and said, "Tell me, what do you see?"

The three people made concessions to each other, but Sun Chengye was the first to speak. He bowed and said, "Uncle, isn't there a little less blood flowing from the body's throat?"

Sun Shaozong waved his hand and said, "Don't ask me. You can judge by yourself."

"Noted, then I shall start."

Sun Chengye then continued, "Last time, my servant accidentally bit his tongue, and he shed much more blood than the victim now. Since it was a fatal injury, it should not only be a small amount of blood."

"What else?"

"What's more, this iron sword looks bright, but it has a forged edge. It's really strange to kill people with a blunt sword."

"And."

Yu Qian hesitated when he said this, and hurriedly replied, "It's not easy to keep his head down and insert the iron sword if the murderer is alone!"

"So there is more than one murderer?!"

Sun Chengtao exclaimed aside, "How could he offend such an enemy? How could he be so cruel?"

Without waiting for others to respond, he asked himself in panic, "Was it someone who deliberately killed the old man who was going to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday in the Palace trying to show off his strength to His Majesty?! In this case, isn’t the murderer a group of people who are crazy and fearless?!"

As he spoke, he did not know whether he was trembling with fear or anger.

This unique thinking…

Sun Shaozong asked the other two, "What do you think?"

Sun Chengye bowed again and said, "I think there is something wrong with Qilang's inference."

Yu Qian also nodded and said, "From my point of view, it seems that the old man was not killed by others."

"Brother-in-law, are you kidding?"

Sun Chengtao jumped out again and said in disbelief, "I've heard of people who hanged themselves, poisoned themselves, and swallowed gold. This is the first time I've heard of people who killed themselves by eating half an iron sword!"

"But the old man has no traces of binding or suppression. He is obviously not an ordinary old man. Even if he is weaker than an adult man, his strength will not be much worse. If you want to suppress him without leaving any traces, it may be difficult to do so."

"If something like an overpowering drug is used and forced into the wound again, the old man's throat will be cut open with no cooperation, and the blood from the wound will be more than ten times as much as it is now!"

At this point, Yu Qian paused a little, and then said, "In addition, when Uncle just entered the door, he once said that the most important thing in homicide cases is to protect the scene. If it is a homicide case, I’m afraid that Uncle can’t afford to let others be involved in solving the case."

Sun Shaozong had been quietly listening, but at this time he finally showed some appreciation. Although the name of the criminal department was useful, figuring out the minds of people was the most valuable set of skills in the official arena!

"Why did he kill himself in such a strange way?"

Sun Chengtao was still in disbelief, but this time Yu Qian didn’t answer his doubts. He arches his hands and says, "I'm afraid you'll have to ask Uncle to explain."

"It's good to see that this is not a homicide. At least in the future, officials will not wrong people."

Sun Shaozong said, waving his hand outside, "Come in and answer."

Zhao Wuwei immediately ran in with a fist in his hand and said, "Just now, after listening to Master's instructions, I visited several young children in the neighborhood. The old man had indeed performed tricks previously. They said that if they told the Master that they knew he performed tricks previously, he would not perform again, so only a few people in the neighborhood knew about it."

Hearing this, Yu Qian suddenly said, "Was it... Was it that he was practicing the juggling of swallowing an iron sword, and he accidentally stabbed himself?!"

Sun Shaozong nodded and said, "Yes, the skeleton of the deceased looks nothing, but after careful examination, you can find that there are some deformities. They should be formed by training. Usually, such people are not trained from childhood, or they are acrobats."

"The deceased should be the latter."

"But he has been cautious for decades and doesn't want his neighbors to know his origin. I'm afraid he once worked as a trick performer as a part-time job."

"As for the reason why he suddenly practiced juggling...

"Two days ago, the Ministry of Etiquette issued a decree to let talented old men rehearse their own programs so that they could perform in front of His Majesty. Perhaps that's why the deceased started his old career again."

"Unfortunately, during the drill, there was an accident. According to my inference, he was probably in the process of swallowing the iron sword when he suddenly coughed violently, causing his throat to be injured by the blunt sword."

"This was not a fatal injury, but the victim was so flustered that he sucked the blood upstream into the respiratory tract, resulting in acute asphyxia."

Seeing that the three were all confused, Sun Shaozong explained, "That is to say, he choked to death with his own blood."

With that, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "The etiquette department has caused this incident with the intention of flattering the Emperor."

As expected, after the case was reported, Emperor Guangde immediately issued an order to punish the Ministry of Rites for three months of their salaries. The charge was that the Ministry of Rites did not know how to respect the elderly.

As for rehearsals to amuse the Emperor, naturally, it was all over.

However, Sun Shaozong had little to do with this. He went home in the evening to accompany Yu Qian and the three of them to eat a light Southern meal. In the night, Xiangling pulled him to practice some heavy posture that she would not cooperate on ordinary days…